Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29020846›Full record

ArticlePalliative medicine2018

Patients' and caregivers' needs, experiences, preferences and research priorities in spiritual care: A focus group study across nine countries.

Lucy Ellen Selman, Lisa Jane Brighton, Shane Sinclair, Ikali Karvinen, Richard Egan, Peter Speck, Richard A Powell, Ewa Deskur-Smielecka, Myra Glajchen, Shelly Adler and 5 more

Abstract readComparative Study
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Palliative medicine, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 96 papers, 9 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
96citing papers in PubMed, 9 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

96 citing papers in PubMed, 9 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

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  3. Association of spirituality and quality of life in cancer survivors: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2025
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  11. Spiritual needs, spiritual well-being and related factors among patients with gynecologic cancer: A cross-sectional study.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2026
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36 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

15 authors.

Lucy Ellen Selman1 Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK.
Lisa Jane Brighton2 Cicely Saunders Institute, Department of Palliative Care, Policy & Rehabilitation, King's College London, London, UK.
Shane Sinclair3 Faculty of Nursing, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada.
Ikali Karvinen4 Global Health Programme, Diaconia University of Applied Sciences, Helsinki, Finland.
Richard Egan5 Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Peter Speck2 Cicely Saunders Institute, Department of Palliative Care, Policy & Rehabilitation, King's College London, London, UK.
Richard A Powell6 MWAPO Health Development Group, Nairobi, Kenya.
Ewa Deskur-Smielecka7 Department of Palliative Medicine, Poznan University of Medical Sciences, Poznań, Poland.
Myra Glajchen8 Director of Medical Education, MJHS Institute for Innovation in Palliative Care, New York, NY, USA.
Shelly Adler9 Osher Center for Integrative Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Christina Puchalski10 The George Washington University's Institute for Spirituality & Health (GWish), School of Medicine & Health Sciences, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA.
Joy Hunter11 School of Public Health and Family Medicine, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
Nancy Gikaara12 Independent Consultant in Palliative Care Research, Kenya.
Jonathon Hope13 Patient Representative, UK.
InSpirit Collaborative

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundSpiritual distress is prevalent in advanced disease, but often neglected, resulting in unnecessary suffering. Evidence to inform spiritual care practices in palliative care is limited.

aimTo explore spiritual care needs, experiences, preferences and research priorities in an international sample of patients with life-limiting disease and family caregivers.

designFocus group study. SETTING/

participantsSeparate patient and caregiver focus groups were conducted at 11 sites in South Africa, Kenya, South Korea, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Finland and Poland. Discussions were transcribed, translated into English and analysed thematically.

resultsA total of 74 patients participated: median age 62 years; 53 had cancer; 48 were women. In total, 71 caregivers participated: median age 61 years; 56 were women. Two-thirds of participants were Christian. Five themes are described: patients' and caregivers' spiritual concerns, understanding of spirituality and its role in illness, views and experiences of spiritual care, preferences regarding spiritual care, and research priorities. Participants reported wide-ranging spiritual concerns spanning existential, psychological, religious and social domains. Spirituality supported coping, but could also result in framing illness as punishment. Participants emphasised the need for staff competence in spiritual care. Spiritual care was reportedly lacking, primarily due to staff members' de-prioritisation and lack of time. Patients' research priorities included understanding the qualities of human connectedness and fostering these skills in staff. Caregivers' priorities included staff training, assessment, studying impact, and caregiver's spiritual care needs.

conclusionTo meet patient and caregiver preferences, healthcare providers should be able to address their spiritual concerns. Findings should inform patient- and caregiver-centred spiritual care provision, education and research.

Indexed as

SpiritualityAdaptation, PsychologicalAdultAgedAged, 80 and overBelgiumCanadaCaregiversFemaleFinlandFocus GroupsHumansKenyaMaleMiddle AgedNeoplasmsfocus groupspalliative carepastoral carequalitative researchreligion and psychologySpirituality

Identifiers

PMID29020846
PMCPMC5758929

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.